[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 249 Introduced in House (IH)]
106th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. CON. RES. 249
Expressing the sense of the Congress that the Government of the
People's Republic of China should immediately release Rabiya Kadeer,
her secretary, and her son, abide by the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, and permit Kadeer, her secretary, and her
son to move to the United States if they so desire.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 10, 2000
Mr. Nethercutt (for himself and Mr. Porter) submitted the following
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on
International Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Congress that the Government of the
People's Republic of China should immediately release Rabiya Kadeer,
her secretary, and her son, abide by the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, and permit Kadeer, her secretary, and her
son to move to the United States if they so desire.
Whereas Rabiya Kadeer, a prominent ethnic Uighur from the Xinjiang Uighur
Autonomous Region (XUAR) of the People's Republic of China, her
secretary, and her son were arrested on August 11, 1999, in the city of
Urumqi;
Whereas Rabiya Kadeer's arrest occurred outside the Yindu Hotel in Urumqi as she
was attempting to meet a group of congressional staff staying at the
Yindu Hotel as part of an official visit to China organized under the
auspices of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Program of the
United States Information Agency;
Whereas Rabiya Kadeer's husband Sidik Rouzi, who has lived in the United States
since 1996 and works for Radio Free Asia, has been critical of the
policies of the People's Republic of China toward Uighurs in Xinjiang;
Whereas according to an Amnesty International press release of August 16, 1999,
``It appears as though the accusations against Kadeer and her son
Ablikim Abdyirim may relate to her attempts to meet a visiting
delegation from the United States [Congress] and her communications with
her husband Sidik Rouzi . . .'';
Whereas reports indicate that Ablikim Abdyirim was sent to a labor camp on
November 26 for 2 years without trial for ``supporting Uighur
separatism,'' and Rabiya Kadeer's secretary was recently sentenced to 3
years in a labor camp;
Whereas Rabiya Kadeer has 5 children, 3 sisters, and a brother living in the
United States, in addition to her husband, and Kadeer has expressed a
desire to move to the United States;
Whereas the People's Republic of China stripped Rabiya Kadeer of her passport
long before her arrest;
Whereas reports indicate that Kadeer's health may be at risk and that she may be
sentenced to 10 or more years in prison;
Whereas repeated requests to the Government of the People's Republic of China by
Members of Congress and congressional staff for an explanation of the
nature of the charges against Rabiya Kadeer, her secretary, and her son,
for an update on the state of Kadeer's health, and for details of any
legal proceedings against those arrested, have gone unanswered since
August 1999;
Whereas the People's Republic of China signed the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights on October 5, 1998;
Whereas that Covenant requires signatory countries to guarantee their citizens
the right to legal recourse when their rights have been violated, the
right to liberty and freedom of movement, the right to presumption of
innocence until guilt is proven, the right to appeal a conviction,
freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, freedom of opinion and
expression, and freedom of assembly and association;
Whereas that Covenant forbids torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, and
arbitrary arrest and detention;
Whereas the first Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights enables the Human Rights Committee, set up under that
Covenant, to receive and consider communications from individuals
claiming to be victims of violations of any of the rights set forth in
the Covenant; and
Whereas in signing that Covenant on behalf of the People's Republic of China,
Ambassador Qin Huasun, Permanent Representative of the People's Republic
of China to the United Nations, said the following: ``To realize human
rights is the aspiration of all humanity. It is also a goal that the
Chinese Government has long been striving for. We believe that the
universality of human rights should be respected . . . As a member state
of the United Nations, China has always actively participated in the
activities of the organization in the field of human rights. It attaches
importance to its cooperation with agencies concerned in the U.N. system
. . .'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That the Congress calls on the Government of the People's Republic of
China--
(1) immediately to release Rabiya Kadeer, her secretary,
and her son; and
(2) to permit Kadeer, her secretary, and her son to move to
the United States, if they so desire.
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